1st play of the season, Vanderbilt has a new coach in Derek Mason, and he brought enough staff with him and has enough young talent to transition to the 3-4 Defense smoothly. I've heard they struggled with assignments early but have progress enough to field what they think is a very strong front 7. West Coast Offense will transition slowly and Samuels back-up from last year Patton Robinette has won the QB position. If you saw him last year, he is not going to light up the sky.....he's just not that kind of QB. Expect them to give him just enough responsibilities to keep the Defense on their toes, and look for more controlled passes, including using the TE. When you have 4 of 5 Starters on the OL Back, 3 of 4 RB's back with more talent in the hopper at the position, you lost your go to guy WR Jordan Matthews and your QB, then to win in the SEC you are not going to outscore your opponents by scoring quickly. Vanderbilt is going to have to try and control the ball and win, so its my opinion that they will try and work on that if they can in Game 1. And I think they will because.......
Temple last year had no choice but to get a QB seasoned and try to outscore people. The result was 2-10. PJ Walker matured and he can throw the football. His go to guy, Robby Anderson is gone as well as their 2nd leading receiver. The biggest concern for me is that other than the Center position, the entire OL has to be rebuilt in one season. Temple returns their Top 5 leading rushers. And their Defense which was so bad, not only returns 8 starters from last year, but also includes 7 DB's, including 3 JUCO Defensive Backs, 4 DL's and 1 LB in attempt to play better football on Defense. If the Defense can play better, it should allow the Offense to play a more balanced game and give them a better opportunity to win. They started the season last year with only 1 of the 1st 5 games going over this total. The key to this game will be Vandy's front seven vs. an inexperienced Temple OL. I truly believe that if Temple will mix in some run, they will have a better chance to succeed, and if they do not, PJ will be running for his life. Temple only scored big points against teams with 90+ Pass Defense or Pass Efficiency Defense. And although Vandy did lose alot in the Defensive Backfield, overall they were a solid Defensive team giving up lots of points in only 4 of 13 games, and the mentality is still there, the talent is still there, and the Coach was known as one of Top Defensive Minded guys in College Football at Stanford. That won't change at Vandy.....especially in Year 1. He knows its the best chance to success.
Only play action and big plays can kill this one IMO.
Under 51 for 3 Units
gl
Temple last year had no choice but to get a QB seasoned and try to outscore people. The result was 2-10. PJ Walker matured and he can throw the football. His go to guy, Robby Anderson is gone as well as their 2nd leading receiver. The biggest concern for me is that other than the Center position, the entire OL has to be rebuilt in one season. Temple returns their Top 5 leading rushers. And their Defense which was so bad, not only returns 8 starters from last year, but also includes 7 DB's, including 3 JUCO Defensive Backs, 4 DL's and 1 LB in attempt to play better football on Defense. If the Defense can play better, it should allow the Offense to play a more balanced game and give them a better opportunity to win. They started the season last year with only 1 of the 1st 5 games going over this total. The key to this game will be Vandy's front seven vs. an inexperienced Temple OL. I truly believe that if Temple will mix in some run, they will have a better chance to succeed, and if they do not, PJ will be running for his life. Temple only scored big points against teams with 90+ Pass Defense or Pass Efficiency Defense. And although Vandy did lose alot in the Defensive Backfield, overall they were a solid Defensive team giving up lots of points in only 4 of 13 games, and the mentality is still there, the talent is still there, and the Coach was known as one of Top Defensive Minded guys in College Football at Stanford. That won't change at Vandy.....especially in Year 1. He knows its the best chance to success.
Only play action and big plays can kill this one IMO.
Under 51 for 3 Units
gl
